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Joseph Carter, 28, and Sammy Gibson Jr., 28, are charged with the murder of Newton.

The arrests came as a surprise to neighbor Chris Wilson, who says he knows Carter well.

“Honestly, my mouth dropped it shocked me when I heard his name...that he could be involved in something like that," Wilson said.

Carter, who was arraigned on murder charges today, lived blocks away from the victim's house.

“I hope he's not involved but you never know and like I said, I hate to see it, I hate to see it to the family that this happened to. It's just bad all the way around,” said Wilson.

Police say that Carter and Gibson got into a fight with Newton, then robbed and killed him.

A friend and neighbor found Newton dead on his couch in his home. They indicated that Newton appeared to be brutally beaten and there was a bloody baseball bat thrown in the kitchen sink. Police would not say if they had a murder weapon in their possession, but did confirm his cause of death.

Carter and Gibson are charged with murder, robbery in the first degree, and tampering with physical evidence.